INTEGRATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT ACTIVITIES AS REALISATION OF YOUTH ASPIRATION TO FINANCIAL SEPARATION

Abstract

The current tendency of students to combine education with work can have both positive and negative consequences: maturity and economic autonomy on the one hand, and the loss of system and consistency of professional knowledge acquisition on the other hand. It might lead to a decrease in the quality of professional competencies and, finally, to devaluation of the essence of higher education in general. It is worth noting that in this case we are not talking about the implementation of the principle of dual education, as most students’ employments are not related to the direction of their professional course, and therefore do not provide improving their professional knowledge or skills. The purpose of the article is to analyze the motivational aspect of students’ intentions to gain economic independence from the parental family by combining higher education with employment.
80 third-year students (M=19.7 years old) participated in the study. The results obtained confirmed the suggestion that the main motivational basis to make decision about the employment was not the need to solve the financial difficulties but an aspiration to achieve the personal autonomy and independence. The study proved the ambivalent nature of the process, as being temporarily or part-time employees, the students could not fulfill all their needs and continued to rely on financial support of their parents. Only 9.8% of respondents confirmed their complete financial independence from the family or even the ability to support their parents. At the same time, all the respondents admitted the perception of the negative influence of their absence from study on the level of their professional skills. The factor analysis of students’ motivation has resulted in distinguishing 3 main factors: “independence” (formed with motives of self-affirmation, awareness of maturity, commitment to financial autonomy and family’s financial difficulties); “experience” (motives of gaining professional experience, skills and earning for living); “external influence” (motives of new social trends and peers’ role models). Comparing the motives of financial separation with the desirable goals of spending money, we made a conclusion about a dominant role of personal and sometimes even egoistic needs in making decision to search for a job (money for living, for self-development and entertainment).

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